Keeping a government off-guard and on the defensive is one of the primary functions of an opposition party’s attack team. We usually see this take place in the daily Question Period.

The questions that need to be asked can most often be boiled down to three simple ones.

1. What did they know?

2. When did they know?

3. What did they do about it?

At both the provincial and federal level it is something for the Conservatives to keep in mind as we get closer to an election date.

If we look at the federal level, the Conservatives are still trying to keep the Atwal Affair alive. At this point in time not too many everyday Canadians care anymore, they made up their mind that Trudeau’s India trip was a disaster a long time ago, but inside the Queensway it’s still interesting stuff).

The questions boil down to- What was Trudeau told? When did Trudeau know? What did Trudeau do about it?

On how much will the Trudeau-McKenna carbon tax cost the Canadian economy?

What was Trudeau told? When did Trudeau know? What did Trudeau do about it?

On the summer job funding for anti-pipeline groups:

What was Trudeau told? When did Trudeau know? What did Trudeau do about it?

You can hammer a Prime Minister pretty good with those three simple questions. If Trudeau ducks and runs as one would expect him to do, you simply switch your target to the minister concerned.

Experience says that they can only run and hide for so long, before the Prime Minister or the minister loses their cool and says something they shouldn’t. That in turn will open up new possibilities and an opportunity to return to the issue once more.

Back on January 1, 2016, I wrote a blog, part of which said to Conservatives to get over Justin Trudeau and the fact that he beat them. I mentioned that it takes time for a government to fall from grace.

Back then, who can forget all those media stories about how Trudeau would be unbeatable for the next eight years. Do you remember the stories around those who would replace Harper and why the big names might not run; as spending almost a decade in opposition was a long time? At that time, we did see some of the potential big-name candidates decide not to enter the Conservative leadership race.

I also reminded readers of the potential for the Liberals to become arrogant. We are seeing history repeat itself.

Whether you liked or disliked Pierre Trudeau when he was Prime Minister, Justin’s father had a pretty good run for a while, until he became so arrogant that he gave voters the now infamous “Salmon Arm Salute”. The present Trudeau has gone from “sunny ways” to lecturing Canadians on what is good for them and his ministers are even worse. When a leader or a minister assumes they are always right and repeatedly ignores questions and stops listening to the people who elected them, a government is in trouble.

Justin Trudeau is not in the same league as some of our recent Prime Ministers such as Pierre Trudeau, Brian Mulroney, Jean Chretien or Stephen Harper. He is pretty much a light weight when compared to them, but he did win by promoting the policies and hopes that Canadians voters wanted to hear. It is now up to the Scheer Conservatives to listen to all Canadians; not just to the base and see if they can take advantage of Justin’s mistakes and arrogance.

When Donald Trump has a higher approval rating than Justin Trudeau; its an opportunity that is to good to miss.

Just A Thought: So the brouhaha over Doug Ford winning the leadership has started to die down. All that shock and horror and plenty of ink, but it won’t make a bit of difference. Right now voters are fed up with the Wynne government. We have watched her use our money to buy votes with just about every special interest group out there. Once the demand and desire to change af government starts rolling it is very hard for a government to reverse it.

Ford has a responsibility to make sure that he wins. First always dress, act and speak like a premier-in-waiting. That includes leaving the attacks and mudslinging to others. He has to make sure that he has a top notch issues management team to take care of the inevitable attacks that will be coming in and of course develop a thick skin.

There is nothing worse than a wounded and cornered Liberal trying to hang on to power. Ford has his work cut out for him, but I have a feeling he will be up for it. People tend to underestimate him, but he was smart enough to hire a top notch leadership campaign team and his organization was nothing to laugh at and they beat some pretty competent teams. Sit back and enjoy the ride- this is going to be a fascinating few months until the next provincial election.

Just A Thought: It was fun to watch everyone get excited because Trudeau and the Liberals dropped in the polling numbers. While a week from hell for the Prime Minister might seem like a lifetime, it really is just a moment in time. Trudeau has plenty of time to recover and his government has plenty of time to replicate Wynne’s strategy of buying off every imaginable group of people with our own money.

Until a real trend emerges over the next several months, it is time for the Conservatives to dig in and work harder as the Liberals are sure to mount yet another charm offensive to bolster their numbers.

Just A Thought: I have known Patrick Brown a long time, all the way back to PC Party days. My best advice to him right now is to slow down, reassess and regroup. You can’t do everything at once such as-

·Clear your name

·Re-arrange your finances

·Assess your career opportunities

·Analyze what happened and why etc

·Sue CTV

·Run for the Leadership

·Build a new leadership team etc

·Run for your seat

Time to focus on one priority that matters most to you now and in the future.